Can Zoomin Groomin use Advertising Fees to solicit new franchise sales?
Zoomin_Groomin Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
C. Advertising Fee
You will contribute 2% of your Gross Revenues into our Advertising Fund.
D. Fund
Franchisor owned outlets do not have to contribute to the Advertising Fund, but may do so. We administer the Advertising Fund. The Fund is not audited. Unaudited financial statements of the Advertising Fund will be made available to you upon written request. If not all Advertising Fees are spent in the fiscal year in which they accrue, we may carry over those fees and apply them to the next fiscal year. We may use Advertising Fees to solicit new franchise sales.
Source: Item 9 — 01. Financial Statements and Exhibits. (FDD pages 68–156)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Zoomin Groomin's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the company can use advertising fees to solicit new franchise sales. Franchisees are required to contribute 2% of their gross revenues to the Advertising Fund. While franchisor-owned outlets are not required to contribute to the fund, they may choose to do so. Zoomin Groomin administers the Advertising Fund, and it is not audited.
Zoomin Groomin may carry over any unspent advertising fees from one fiscal year to the next and apply them to the subsequent fiscal year. The company uses the monies in the Advertising Fund to advise franchisees in the conduct of advertising or conduct advertising themselves using online, radio, television, direct mail, billboards, print, or other advertising. Zoomin Groomin may use local, regional, or national advertising and may produce advertising material in-house or through outside agencies.
This means that while franchisees contribute to the Advertising Fund with a portion of their revenue, Zoomin Groomin has discretion over how these funds are spent, including using them to attract new franchisees. A potential franchisee should consider that the advertising fees they pay may not directly benefit their location but could be used for the broader purpose of expanding the Zoomin Groomin franchise system. Franchisees can request unaudited financial statements of the Advertising Fund in writing.